Boulder to hold 'principles' meetings on Chautauqua

Discussions will form basis of lease re-negotiation, could mean city pays more for upkeep

From left, Kathleen Woodberry, her 10-year-old daughter, Sloan Woodberry, both of Denver, and Kathleen Woodberry s mother, Alice Thomas, of Houston, all put together a puzzle Friday afternoon at their Chautauqua cottage in Boulder on Friday. Photo by Rachel Woolf, For the Daily Camera.
(
RACHEL WOOLF
)

More info: Meetings are open to the public, but city officials are still determining whether public comment will be allowed.

Plans to build a new meeting space at Colorado Chautauqua National Historic Landmark as part of an effort to raise more money for upkeep of facilities there sparked outcry from some community members.

Now, Boulder is taking a new look at the principles that guide its relationship with the Colorado Chautauqua Association, the group that leases and runs the park. That could mean the city will contribute more money toward preservation of historic structures and have a larger presence on the Chautauqua board.

Later this month, the city will start a series of meetings with the goal of creating an underlying agreement about the roles and responsibilities of both the city and the Chautauqua association.

Advertisement

"We're going to try to come up with basic principles that we can present to the council and say, 'Yeah, we agree with that,'" said Boulder Councilman Tim Plass, one of two council members who will be working on the project. "We're going to try to get everybody on the same page."

Councilman George Karakehian, a former Chautauqua board member himself, is the other council member working on the project.

Chautauqua officials could not be reached Friday. Their role in the upcoming discussions is still being worked out, city officials said.

The terms of the current lease, which was negotiated in 1998, obligate the Colorado Chautauqua Association to pay $4,500 per year to the city and to take on all responsibility for maintenance and improvements of the buildings. Boulder agrees to provide city services, such as fire and animal control, and to maintain the streets and adjacent parks.

That lease expires in January 2018. Susan Connelly, executive director of the Colorado Chautauqua Association, has questioned why the association is responsible for all the upkeep, as opposed to a more traditional landlord-tenant relationship.

Shinei Tsukamoto, of Oakland, Calif., puts on his hat from the trunk of his car before a hike on July 13, 2012, at Chautauqua in Boulder.
(
RACHEL WOOLF
)

"The CCA often feels like they're in a corner because they get criticized for trying to raise money, yet they're responsible for this upkeep," said David Driskell, Boulder's executive director of community planning and sustainability. "There's a lot of investment that's needed to take care of the historic resources there and preserve them."

The guiding principles meetings are not expected to deal with the details of how much money is needed and how it will be raised, Driskell said.

Instead, they will focus on what the relationship between the city and Chautauqua should look like moving forward and what responsibilities each side should have.

The discussion was spurred by a proposal, never presented to the City Council, for a new building that would allow the association to offer bathrooms near the auditorium that are accessible to people with disabilities and to consolidate its offices.

That would have allowed the association to restore the Primrose Building, where some of the association's back-office departments are now housed. The Primrose Building could then be returned to its historic use as a lodge.

The association's plan also called for adding additional "multi-use" space, which could be rented out to groups for conferences and other events, bringing in more revenue for the nonprofit group. Plass said he has heard a lot of concerns about changing the historic character of the place and whether large new buildings are appropriate.

"It certainly put a fine point on it and made it really timely, so the proposal has spurred those discussions," Plass said. "Chautauqua is such a great community resource, and we need to figure out what we need to do up there in terms of capital improvements to maintain it. I think this is a really good discussion to have."

However, if the city is going to put more money into Chautauqua, it ought to have more of a voice on the governing board, Plass said.

Currently, the city appoints two of the 15 board members. Cottage residents appoint another two, and the remainder are elected by the dues-paying members of the Colorado Chautauqua Association.

"We don't have enough representation," Plass said. "Certainly, if we're going to be putting more money into Chautauqua, we need to have more representation."

Plass said he hopes the meetings will include an opportunity for public input. He said he'd like to know if there is strong opposition

Joe Stepanek, who lives near Chautauqua and is associated with Boulder Friends of Chautauqua, said he's glad the relationship between the city and the park is being given new consideration.

"I'm a bit of a dreamer," he said. "It is public property. I would very much like to see a Chautauqua board that reflects this property ownership and reflects the original Chautauqua spirit."

Stepanek said he'll encourage people to attend the meetings and hopes there will opportunity for public input before a recommendation is made to the City Council.

Stepanek believes many people in Boulder want to see Chautauqua maintained largely as it is and oppose new buildings there, even if that means more tax dollars go to maintain the existing structures.

"The public is entitled to the kind of Chautauqua that they want and to pay for it," he said.

Boulder is pretty good at producing rock bands, and by "rock," we mean the in-your-face, guitar-heavy, leather-clad variety — you know, the good kind. For a prime example, look no farther than BANDITS. Full Story